Jagannath Rath Yatra

King Indradyumna, instructed by Vishnu in a dream, commissions an idol of Jagannath. A mysterious old carpenter (Vishwakarma in disguise) agrees to carve it, on the condition that no one disturbs him for 21 days. The king's queen, anxious at the silence after 14 days, opens the workshop. The carpenter vanishes — leaving the idols unfinished, without fully formed hands and feet. Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra are worshipped exactly as they were: incomplete, because the divine in Puri tradition deliberately takes a form that transcends human perfection. Rath Yatra is the one time a year that Jagannath leaves the temple and comes out to the people — inverting the usual temple order.

The grand annual chariot festival of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra commences on Ashadha Shukla Dwitiya. On this day, the deities are ceremoniously brought out of the Jagannath Temple in Puri and travel in their elaborately decorated chariots to the Gundicha Temple. This procession is a significant event for devotees, symbolizing the Lord's annual visit to His garden house and is believed to grant salvation to those who witness it. An alternative tradition links the origin of Rath Yatra to Lord Krishna and Balarama's journey to Mathura.

The lunar month of Ashadha is traditionally presided over by Lord Vamana, the dwarf avatar of Vishnu. This association is articulated in traditional verses that assign specific forms of Vishnu as the presiding deities for each month of the year, signifying Vamana's special connection to Ashadha.